OH has brought home a road kill deer, that I saw when taking the children to school this morning. It still has rigor so I would think it is not that old. Some fresh looking blood has leaked from the rear end in transit. Is it safe to eat? I don't want to try butchering it only to find it is unfit for consumption. What do I need to look for? I have followed a few links on earlier posts, re butchering, but I've never done anything like it. He says I have to do it cos I saw it Help!
Andrea.

I wouldn't gut it, I'd skin it (use your fist rather than a knife to pull the skin off the meat), cut the legs off, take off the neck and fillets, then see if anything else looks worth salvaging. Leave the mushy bits on the inside. If you are new to butchering its probably easier to take it apart one muscle group at a time anyway.

Ok, look at the eyes, are they still clear and moist, or are they filmy and stale looking? Is the inside of the mouth also similarly 'fresh' looking? If both those pan out, and there are no other signs of decay, insect attack or whathaveyou, and given that you said the blood was still runny, its should be within the last 24 hours

We had a roadkill deer once and tried to gut it (I say 'we', I made Gareth do it) and becasue the innards had ruptured during the collision it was the foulest thing ever, I wouldnt every suggest a beginer try gutting roadkill unless you have the stomach of a concrete elephant

I thought the blood might be significant. No insects or decay. Too dark to look it in the eye!
I also think there might be internal injuries - there seems to be bruising (after thought - could be gut contents) to the abdomen near the back legs - so I think we (he now says to do it together - divorce beckons ) might miss the gutting
Thanks
Andrea.

KILLITnGRILLIT

Joined: 14 Sep 2006Posts: 894Location: Looking at a screen in the front room

Posted: Mon Apr 21, 08 9:09 pm Post subject:

Personally, unless I know it was hit within minutes of my passing I wouldn`t touch it.

Mainly due to the VERY SMALL CHANCE that a vet had administered a lethal dose to humanely kill it prior to being removed by the local environmental services.

If you can vouch for it being freshly killed within the past few minutes then unzip the skin from the fore end of the saddle and peel back to the hip and forward to the shoulder blades. Remove the haunches with skin on and then skin at your leisure, then place a sharp boning knife to one side of (and tight to) the backbone where the hip joins it slide it all the way to the shoulder blade. Follow the line of the ribs for a little distance until you feel the meat harden and see the lovely steak meat go sinewy and cut back to the hip, remove the backstrap fillet. Do the same for the other side.

If the fore legs are OK (or if you have dags-not OK) lift the far end of the shoulder blade up and slide a knife under it and cut forward towards the shoulder, the whole leg will pull off in a oner, skin and roll at your leisurre. Dogs love this cut and it will keep a large spaniel/ small lab happy for most of the day and half of the next too !

stiff for a 30kg animal at 10 c = less than less than 24 hours dead
runny blood good
chances are it was caught out near first light
remove feet ,hang it up by the tendons of the back legs , skin it (see tanning articles ), gut it ,open carotids and vena cava as you remove internals let it drain blood while you hose you and it down
butcher as normal but beware contaminated flesh and discard internals
chances are it died of trauma from a bumper to legs moment
road kill is usaually ace meat
not skunks ,ever

Personally, unless I know it was hit within minutes of my passing I wouldn`t touch it.

Mainly due to the VERY SMALL CHANCE that a vet had administered a lethal dose to humanely kill it prior to being removed by the local environmental services.

I was under the impression that if they do so then they should mark the animal to indicate that it had been so treated. This is one of those stories which I have heard several times usually along the lines of "luckily before he served it for dinner he noticed his dogs were dead" but which on closer questioning turns out that nobody ever knew the people involved.

By coincidence we picked up a road kill deer this weekend too. Pregnant doe (we found the foetus while gutting) - shame really. The back end was pretty smashed up, the pelvis was in about twenty pieces.

I got the job of gutting and it was a bit rank but not much worse than a (big!) rabbit.

Since it was a bit mashed we discarded a fair bit and most of the rest is now chunks for casserole or chili and red wine mince - it's made marvellous burgers!

Didn't know about the possibility of vet injections - something to bear in mind for next time. I seem to still be alive!

We just just strung her up on hooks through the tendons attached to a chain and followed Jerkymeister/Bloke off the telly's advice from his deer butchery weekend of a few years ago.

Well we did it! Took us 3 hours between us. 23 pounds of meat, and a very meaty carcasse recieving the attention of some very happy dogs. Mostly bagged and put away. Some pieces for mince which I am chilling - I think I have read here that it is easier to mince if chilled. And the dogs haven't keeled over.
Thanks for all the help folks.
Andrea.[/img]